Journeys
by Moonshine's Guide
Summary: Current: Oh, How the Time Flies. Ophelia and Jerry spend their time in the virtual Twilight Town, adjusting and becoming a part of the town life. But the time flies the Fifth day is ending & the end is near… or the perhaps the beginning. Language warning.
1. Hacking is Illegal for a Reason

Author's Note I couldn't resist. I don't care if you flame me. This story is going to continue, through flame and compliments, through writer's block and writer's creativity. So I hope you enjoy. And don't shoot me. Please.

Chapter 1: Hacking is Illegal for a Reason

Ophelia sat in front of the computer, motionless except for her whirling fingers and her eyes that rapidly read what was typed into the computer through glasses that were perched on a twitching nose. Beethoveen's Moonlight Sonata poured out of the speakers of the computer. Otherwise, the house was silent. Her father was at work, her mother was deceased, and her brothers were out at a baseball game. So all of her attention was focused on the computer screen that lay before her. It consumed her attention, leaving her open to anything and everything.

"Whatcha doing?" a voice asked from the doorway. Ophelia jumped a bit, startled. The blonde in the doorway giggled and approached the computer. Ophelia glared at the girl.

"None of your business Jerry. And do I dare ask how you got into my abode?", Ophelia responded curtly, smoothing the wrinkles that had appeared in her skirt.

"You left the door unlocked. Now tell me what you're doing," Jerry commanded, trying to use puppy dog eyes on her friend. Ophelia glanced at her friend.

"That doesn't work anymore. You do know that right?"

There's always the hope that it will... are you hacking? Cool!! What're you hacking?" Jerry tried to move Ophelia farther from the computer screen, in an attempt to get close enough to read what was on the screen.

Ophelia glanced at her friend through her glasses, moving Jerry away from the computer screen. "It's none of your concern."

"Well, you know what? Since you have like no hobbies outside of hacking, that thing you do with your voice, and reading, I really think it is my concern, as a friend is supposed to take interest in what their friends are doing," Jerry remarked in a matter of fact fashion to Ophelia.

"You forgot playing video games."

"gawd, you know what I mean. Ophelia, you need to get out more. I'm like your only friend. And do you even know what the others call you?"

"I would presume something along the lines of slut and whore?" Ophelia responded cynically, beginning to type once more.

"Pretty close. Do you want to be an outcast forever?"

It's better than living a lie, which is what most girls have to do to fit in. Spending their whole life worrying about having their secrets exposed," Ophelia shuddered. "God, who would want to condemn themselves to that hell?" Ophelia glanced at the now glaring Jerry. "No offense meant."

"You're such a cynic."

"I do try," Ophelia responded, with a Cheshire Cat grin spread across her face. Jerry groaned and shook her head.

"Could at least try to fit in a little?" Jerry pleaded.

"So that the harpies you hang out with will get off your back? Even if I do change the way I act, which I will not, the harpies will simply find something new to criticize about you."

"Look they might not be your friends, but they are mine, so don't call them harpies." Jerry was pretty mad. "You're not perfect either."

"…"

"Hey are you listenin'; to me?"

"…"

"Gawd, will you stop typing?"

"…"

"Stop typing and pay attention!"

"…"

"That's it!" Jerry roared, making a grab at the keyboard that Ophelia was typing on.

"Don't do that!" Ophelia cried out, pushing Jerry's hand away, now paying attention to her friend.

"Listen to me then!" Jerry tried to grab the keyboard again.

"Don't touch the keyboard, I'm at a critical point in the hacking and if you touch the wrong key…!" Ophelia's warning didn't come in time. Jerry had jammed her hand on the keyboard. The computer began to make warning beeps.

"What did you do!?" Ophelia shrieked, desperately trying to fix her computer.

"I don't know! I'm sorry!" Jerry panicked, slamming her hand down on the keyboard several times.

Don't do that!" Ophelia yelled. The screen, which had moments before had several windows open on it, had changed to a swirling black and white mass that enveloped the entire screen. A window popped up.

**Transportation Imminent. **

"What does it mean 'transportation imminent'?" Jerry asked, panicked.

I don't know!!" Ophelia mumbled, becoming oddly calm, "But I think we're about to find out."

She was right. The stripes of white and black reached out the computer and pulled them in.

"This is so damn clichéd," Ophelia moaned as she was pulled into the computer.

_In the Twilight Town Mansion_

"How do these anomalies keep getting into the system?" DiZ grouched.

"Another one?" a man in a black cloak inquired indifferently.

Another two," DiZ replied angrily, tapping several keys.

"Are they with the Organization?" the other man asked.

"I know not."

_Back with the girls_

"Jerry, wake up," Ophelia shook her friend.

"Five more minutes mom, I'll get outta bed in five minutes," Jerry said sleepily. Ophelia tsked and smacked her friend. Jerry jolted up, rubbing her cheek.

"What was that for?" she whined, until she noticed where she was. "Whoa, is this… Twilight Town?"

Ophelia nodded, slightly disgruntled. Jerry looked around in shock, at least until she noticed her clothes. "Nice," she said in appreciation. She was wearing a white tank top and low riding cargo pants. The cargo pants had about ten large pockets, along with a pair of belts that kept it from slipping even lower. And attached to one of her belts was an elegant rapier, similar to Inigo's from _The Princess Bride_. Several bracelets were scattered on her arms, several thin silver rings hung around her right wrist, and a fuzzy armband sat snugly on her upper left arm, with several hearts stitched on it. Jerry felt her ears. Several earrings had appeared, three on her left and two on her right. Jerry smiled. "I look awesome!"she crowed, before turning to look at Ophelia.

Ophelia's clothes had changed too. She was clad in a knee length black skirt that flowed out from her form. Several belts hung around her waist, seemingly there for decoration alone. Each of the knee high black boots were secured by a black belt with a silver buckle . On her torso was a black turtle neck that ended in bell sleeves. Ophelia's normal glasses had been replaced with sleeker ones, ones that lacked arms and just perched on the bridge of her nose. She hadn't gained or lost any jewelry, so her cross earrings still dangled on her ears. The only new addition was the messenger bag that hung at her side, bulging slightly. Her black hair though, was shorter, framing her face, barely brushing her shoulders. It hung in jagged strands, and some strands had been dyed an indigo blue to match her eyes. Ophelia glanced over at Jerry. "These glasses are going to fall off,"she sighed.

Jerry laughed.

So what do you think? Good? Bad? So horrendous that you need to have your retinas scrubbed clean from the scarring. Also, I would like to make this clear. 

NEITHER OF THESE GIRLS ARE ME!! THEY ARE OCs, NOT ME GETTING SUCKED INTO THE STORY.

Honestly though, if I did get sucked into KH, I would be Heartless fodder in under 5 seconds. So please leave a kind review. I thank you profusely for chosing to read my story, although the genre is a tad overclichèd.


	2. Talking in Twilight

**Sorry this took so long to post. I hope you enjoy the chapter. And I apologize for the nose bit…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the Axel plushie my friend got me for Christmas.**

Chapter 2: Talking in Twilight

"Ummmmm, Ophelia do you know where the way to where we're going?" Jerry asked, trailing behind her friend.

"Of course I do. I know exactly where we're going to. It's

um... down that alley!" Ophelia lied, straightening her glasses.

"We've been down that alley five times already! Just admit that we're lost!" Jerry prodded her friend.

"This place is so much bigger than it was in the game," Ophelia offered as a protest.

Jerry sighed. "At this rate, we'll never find the Sandlot," she complained, meandering down a different alley. "We

should've asked that old lady for directions. Screw how creepy she looked. It would've been better than wandering around like blind men. I mean, we shouldn't judge people based on appearances right? Furthermore…"

During Jerry's rant, the two girls had emerged into a large open area, oblivious to the events that were occurring around them. Jerry was walking ahead, not paying attention to where she was walking.

"We'll never find our way there, we'll be lost forever!"

**CRACK!!**

"My nosthe! You broke my nosthe!! You sodofabitch! " Jerry screamed, clutching her nose, which was now bleeding profusely.

"Well watch where you're going!" the man who had hit her snapped.

"Yeah, it's your fault, not Seifer's y'know?" one of the man's companions added in, a black haired man.

"Idiot," a silver woman added.

"Gah!! Sthcrew you!" Jerry screeched, stalking off toward where Ophelia was standing.

"Why didd't you sthop me?" Jerry demanded, still attempting to staunch the flow of blood that flowed from her nose.

"Wasn't worth the effort." Ophelia replied, wiping her glasses on a scrap of fabric. 

Jerry stuck up her middle finger. Ophelia chuckled at her.

"Well do you have ady potiods id that bag of yours thed?" Jerry asked.

"Nope."

"STHIT!!" Jerry cursed. "Well let's fid ode thed."

"Excuse me? Do you need a potion?"

"No sthit Sherlock. What does it look like I need? Modey?" Jerry snapped, turning on the newcomers. Who happened to be Roxas and the rest of the gang from the Usual Spot. Ophelia raised her eyebrows.

"I apologize for my friend's rudeness. She's in a bit of pain, and it causes her to act rashly. We would happily accept a potion." Ophelia interjected smoothly, accepting the potion Roxas had held out to them. Which was probably a good thing, as it looked like Hayner was about to get seriously pissed. Jerry looked even madder at Ophelia.

"Who asked you to… gah!" Ophelia had uncorked the potion Roxas had passed her and shoved it into Jerry's mouth, halting all protests as Jerry swallowed the liquid.

"Gah that taste's nasty," Jerry managed to get out. She put a hand to her nose. "My nose is healed," she cried joyously. "Score!" she did a little victory dance.

"That was weird," Ophelia informed Jerry stuck out her tongue.

"Well you're pretty weird, Ophelia," Jerry told her friend.

"Who cares?"

Jerry saw an opportunity to talk to Ophelia about something that had been bothering her for a while. "Well, it's just that, the girls at school are ragging on me, telling me to not be your friend, and I figured…"

"That if I changed to act more like everyone else, to fit in, that you wouldn't get the heat from those bitches? Get real, Jerry. No matter what you do, they're going to find something wrong with you. So just give up. The minute you do the slightest thing wrong they're going to drop you like a hot potato." Ophelia deadpanned.

"How can you say that? They're my friends. They wouldn't do that…"

Ophelia snorted. "You're an idiot."

"Don't call me that… Hey where'd they go?" Jerry asked, changing the subject. She would bring it up later. For now she looked for Roxas and the rest of the Usual Gang, as they had seemingly disappeared. Ophelia pointed over her shoulder. They were confronting Seifer's gang. "Oh. Okay. C'mon, let's go over there!" Jerry moved towards the group. Ophelia followed silently after, peering into her bag and seeing what was in there. After a minute or so of looking she pulled out a camcorder.

She flicked open the view finder, and looked through it. When the fight began, she started to record. When the fight was finished she zoomed in on Roxas standing over Seifer triumphantly, when something grabbed it out of her hands. She stared at the offender for a second, before taking off after it, Roxas and Jerry not far behind her. Cries of "The Thief!" could be heard echoing behind them.

Ophelia tried hard, but she soon fell to the back of the pack, panting hard, and struggling to keep up with Jerry and Roxas, both of whom were in much better shape than she was. She managed to reach the clearing in front of the Old Mansion before she sank to her knees, panting and wheezing. She stuck a frantic hand into a pocket and dug for the inhaler she knew was in there. Grasping it, she pulled it out and inhaled, trying to catch her breath as she watched the scene.

Jerry and Roxas had already engaged, the thief, known to Ophelia as a Dusk. Ophelia watched, out of breath, as Jerry swung the rapier wildly, missing the Dusk more often than she hit it. Roxas, while more accurate with his struggle bat, fought with no effect against the Dusk. No damage seemed to be done by either weapon.

At least until the tables turned, when the Keyblade appeared in Roxas's hand. Roxas looked startled, but he soon began to attack the Dusk again. Jerry's strikes became more effective as her strikes started to cause damage. The Dusk quickly perished under the assault.

"Good job," Ophelia wheezed, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

"You all right?" Jerry asked, sheathing her rapier.

"Remind me to exercise more." Ophelia replied. Jerry laughed at her. Ophelia scowled.

Roxas slowly approached them, the photos the Dusk had dropped held in his hands.

"Is this yours?" he inquired quietly, holding out the camcorder. Ophelia stood up, and accepted the camcorder with a nod and an almost inaudible thank you.

"I didn't get your names earlier did I? I'm Roxas," Roxas proffered his hand. Jerry grabbed it and shook it.

"I'm Jerry. And the emo over there is Ophelia," she introduced.

"I'm not emo."

"Then why do you dress like one?"

"Do you even know what emo means?"

"Uhhh…"

"I'll take that as a no. You shouldn't use words of whose definition you are unaware of. It makes you appear even more ignorant."

"Ophelia you're so mean…" Roxas laughed, and a barely visible smile crossed Ophelia's lips.

"May we go back with you?" Ophelia asked after a slight pause.

Roxas nodded. "I could introduce you to the rest of the gang, I suppose. Olette would be happy to meet you. She complains every so often that there aren't enough girls around here." They had begun walking back. They were making their way through the town now.

"Oh, by the way, thanks for the potion earlier. I appreciate it," Jerry spoke up as they approached The Usual Spot.

"No problem," Roxas replied, walking in. Jerry walked right in after him, but Ophelia paused. She knelt down and picked up the scrap of paper that had fluttered to the ground before her. She cast a lazy eye over it, before folding it and slipping it into a pocket of her bag.

She entered the Usual Spot silently and listened to the gang as they discussed the thief. Jerry happily added in her suspicions, but most were wrong.

'_Jerry had never played the game,'_ Ophelia thought to herself, _'She had watched me play the opening bit, the first day, which was why Jerry had recognized Twilight Town, but that was all. It hadn't been interesting to Jerry back then. It was different for me. Kingdom Hearts was a large part of my life. It had helped me to survive after… after…" _ Ophelia gulped as her eyes watered. _'Don't think about that!' _she scolded herself, turning her attention back to the conversation.

Ophelia added nothing to the conversation, barely acknowledging them when Roxas introduced her, so lost in her thoughts she was. The gang broke up after that, promising to meet tomorrow to talk more. It was too late to do anything more than that.

The rest had left when Jerry realized their plight. "We have no where to stay!" she whined, as Ophelia lead them away from the Usual Spot. Ophelia paid her no heed, simply slipping a hand into her pocket.

After a few minutes, Ophelia came to a halt and pulled out the scrap of paper from earlier. She glanced at it, and began to trot down the street. "Jerry?" she called back to her friend.

"What?" Jerry responded, disgruntled.

"Don't tell anyone that this is a game."

"Whaaaaaaaaat?"

"I mean it. Don't tell anyone that Kingdom Hearts is a video game."

"Why?"

Ophelia gave Jerry a sardonic look. "Because people will think you're crazy. How would feel if a stranger came up to you and said that your whole universe, your very existence was merely part of a video game?"

"I would feel very creeped out." Jerry responded after a considerable pause.

"And we don't want to creep Roxas out." Ophelia stated, a cheshire cat grin growing on her face.

"Why?"

"Because, my dear Watson, we are going to join Sora's journey. Now come on. We need to find this inn."

Jerry's face held a bewildered look as she stared at the back of her rapidly retreating friend.

_**At the Mansion…**_

"Organization miscreants. They've found us."

"But why would the Nobodies steal the photographs?"

"Both are nothing but data to them. The fools could never tell the difference. We are running out of time. And those anomalies aren't helping."

"The anomalies from earlier?"

"Yes. Two girls. When they arrived I believed them to be mostly harmless, but they are proving to be slight nuisances. They widened the path into the Town. I will remove them when the time comes. I dare not now. It would make the path more unstable. Naminé must make haste."

**Thank you for reading. A shout out to IcyPirateChic, WinterLoveSong, Shadow Tamashii, and Trapped in the mirror. They all reviewed my first chapter and made me ever so happy!! Cookies to all of you! **

**Keep Reading!!**


	3. Oh How the Time Flies

**Warning: F-bomb and a slight diss to the Chicago Bears. **

**Chapter Three: Oh, How the Time Flies**

"Is this it?" Jerry asked. Ophelia stared down at the scrap of paper, and then stared back up at the building. It was similar to most of the other buildings in Twilight Town, located just off of Tram Common. Nothing very spectacular about it.

"Guess so," Ophelia answered, walking forward, the messenger bag bumping against her backside. She opened the door, stepping inside cautiously with Jerry trailing behind her.

The interior of the place was very plain, decorated in reds and yellows. Several chairs and a couch surrounded a fire place, while an old oak desk served as a counter. And standing behind the counter was…

"Olette, I didn't know you worked at the inn!" Jerry chirped, pushing past Ophelia. Ophelia shuffled to regain her balance, before following after Jerry.

Olette glanced up from the ledger she had been looking at. "Hi guys! What're you doing here?"

"We need a room," Ophelia stated, glancing around.

"They're a hundred munny a night, is that all right?" Olette replied cheerfully, her hands folding together in front of her.

"Yep," Jerry agreed, while Ophelia nodded in accord. Olette reached behind her and grabbed a key off of a hook. "Here you go! You're in suite 213. We have complimentary breakfasts everyday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. You have to checkout before noon of your final day, also you pay when you check out. Have a nice day!"

"Wicked sweet Olette," Jerry smiled, before heading upstairs. Ophelia simply nodded her thanks and shadowed Jerry up the stairs.

The room was very plain. The door opened up onto a small sitting area, with a couch facing a table, along with end tables being the only decor. Jerry plopped down on the couch and flicked on the TV.

"Twilight Town Idol?? Sounds interesting!" Jerry chuckled to herself as she made herself comfortable. Ophelia snorted, and continued farther into the suite. She stared at the twin beds, before moving to the desk that sat below a window. She heaved her bag up onto the desk and began to examine the contents of her bag. She pulled the camcorder out, setting gently it to the side. The next item she pulled out was accompanied by a squeal.

"My laptop!" Ophelia clutched it to her chest and cuddled it. The white laptop was plain, except for a picture of Kingdom Hearts taped to the back of the screen, right next to the Mac logo. She set it on the desk and flicked it on.

While it started up, Ophelia continued to go through the bag. She found several things including a photo of her family, her ipod, several books and videos, a spare outfit identical to her current one, along with a set of pajamas, her DS, a handful of games for the DS, and a pouch. Ophelia pulled out the pouch, weighing it in her hand. It was heavy, making clinking noises with every movement. Ophelia tugged on the drawstrings. The pouch spilled open, munny cascading out.

Ophelia whistled. "That's a lot of munny." She began to sort through the diamond shaped currency, separating it into large, medium, small, and miniature piles. "The large is worth a hundred, I think. And theses miniature piles are ones… so maybe the small equals five, and the medium are worth ten?"

They were. On closer inspection, each piece of munny had a small inscription telling how much each one was worth. Ophelia had been correct in her assumptions. She smirked to herself, before searching through her bag one last time. In a small pocket to the side that had been overlooked in the original search, Ophelia found a small wooden box. She stopped, caressing it with her hands. She opened it gently, as music began to play a familiar melody. Her eyes teared up as she listened to the melody, before she shut it. She wiped her eyes, and checked her laptop. It had finished starting up and was now displaying the desktop picture, which was a black dragon sleeping in the moonlight. She pulled the desk chair over and plopped down. After a few minutes of shifting, she connected her camcorder to the laptop, opened iMovie, a program to edit movies, and set to work.

…**Gunshots…**

…**Screams… **

…**The suffocating press of a crowd around her…**

"_**Mommy?"**_

"_**Mommy?!"**_

"_**Mommy?!?!?"**_

…**Blood pooling…**

…**Sticking to her arms, her hair, her chest, her body…**

…**Arms pulling her away… **

…**biting, scratching, clawing, anything to get away…**

…**to get back to Mommy…**

…**still, silent Mommy…**

"_**Mommy!!!! Wake up Mommy!! WAKE UP!!"**_

Ophelia sat up with a start, gasping for breath. She pushed vagrant strands of hair out of her face, leaning back in the chair as she did. Her laptop was still on; although it was almost out of power. Ophelia silently hooked up the laptop to a charger and glanced over at the clock. Three in the morning. _"How long have I been asleep there?" _she wondered to herself. She glanced over. Jerry was lying prostrate on one of the beds. "You could've woken me up. The desk chair is very uncomfortable," she informed her sleeping friend. Jerry just twisted in her sleep and started to snore. "Whatever," she muttered, climbing into the other, empty twin bed.

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The next morning found the two of them in the Back Alley with the Usual gang. They were sitting around, talking mainly. Even Ophelia had started a conversation with Pence, over whether Microsoft or Apple computers were better. It seemed that they had both brands of computers in this world as well. Jerry and Olette were talking about their favorite designers, while Hayner just lounged, eating some sea salt ice cream. Roxas joined them a few minutes later, and a decision was made.

"We're going to the beach!! We're going to the beach!!!" Jerry cheered. "I'm going to get an awesome tan!"

Ophelia fiddle with one of her belts. "You do know how bad tans are for you right?"

"Psssht. You're such a worry wort," Jerry dragged Ophelia over to where the rest of the gang stood, clustered around a poster.

"Struggle?" Jerry asked, butting into the conversation. "Sounds like fun!"

"You going to go out for it too?" asked Roxas.

"Heck yes!!" Jerry cheered, pumping her hand up into the air.

"Do you even know what it is?" Ophelia stared at the poster.

"Of course I do!! It's um…" She glanced at the poster. "Um… a competition!!"

Ophelia glanced out of the corner of her eyes at Jerry. "A competition of what?"

Jerry threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Details! Who needs 'em?" she protested.

Ophelia sighed, running a hand through her hand. "How much munny do we need to go to the beach?" She changed the subject adroitly, tiring of her friends attitude.

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"So we have to earn munny?" Jerry whined, following Ophelia for once. Olette had lead them to a board in Tram Common and was now looking over it.

"Yes," Ophelia replied, looking through the jobs. "Can you ride a skateboard?" She had decided to keep the fact that she already had munny a secret. She didn't know when a more important use for it might make itself known.

"Yeah, your brother Laertes taught me how," Jerry looked at her friend suspiciously. "What are you planning?"

Ophelia reached off and neatly tore off a page of paper. "Getting you a job. What else?"

"Me?" Jerry squeaked. "Why not you?"

"Because all of the jobs listed require physical exertion. I have no wish to trigger my asthma," Ophelia argued, grabbing her arm and began to trot. She looked down at the paper. "The paper says talk to Jeremy Hawkins." She looked around, remembering what the posterman had looked like in the game, and prayed he looked similar in reality.

He did. It took them no time at all to secure a job for Jerry. The man passed her a skateboard and a stack of posters, along with a promise of one hundred munny for every twenty posters she hung up. Jerry nodded, glaring rebelliously at Ophelia. Ophelia shrugged it off, mouthing the word 'tan' to her. Jerry settled down and got to work after that. The man, after hearing about Ophelia's asthma, offered the same deal to her, except instead of using a skateboard to decrease the time it took to place the posters up, he let her take a small, lightweight wagon that he had been carrying the posters in, letting her use the wagon to make the job easier, so Ophelia wouldn't have to overexert herself.

So as Jerry skated her way around, putting up poster after poster, Ophelia walked slowly, dragging the wagon after her, placing her posters up neatly. Two hours later they reported back to Hawkins. Jerry had no posters left, while Ophelia still had about twenty posters. Hawkins appraised both girls.

"Well, Miss Jerry you posted one hundred and sixty posters. That's worth eight hundred munny. Miss Ophelia, you posted sixty posters… so that's three hundred munny." He smiled at them, passing the respective amounts to each of the girls. "Come to the Struggle tournament!"

Both Jerry and Ophelia called out thanks to them as they made their way to the train station. They managed to reach it without too much trouble, as they met up with Olette and Pence on the way there. They chatted, as they walked, getting to know each other better. Even Ophelia joined in.

Hayner was waiting for them when they got there, and Roxas arrived soon after. "All present and accounted for?" Hayner called out. A chorus of yeses rang out.

"What've we got?" Pence asked. Money was produced and counted.

"Tada!! We've got 6,000 munny!" Olette cheered.

"Woot! Let's hit the beach!" Jerry yelled ecstatically, throwing her hands up in the air, barreling towards the door of the train station. "Beautiful tan here I come!!!"

"Hey wait for us!" Hayner called, tearing after her, Pence on his heels. Olette handed the money to Roxas and took off as well. Ophelia walked slowly, with Roxas. The two walked in silence. Until Roxas tripped.

Ophelia nearly missed it. She had not been paying attention, and saw a flash of white in the corner of her vision. She twisted to face Roxas, who was being helped up by a man in a black cloak. She could see him. The man who was Riku, the Riku in 'Ansem's' body. She opened her mouth, about to confront Riku, but instead what slipped out was, "Are you all right Roxas?" Riku glanced at her, or at least moved his head to face her. She couldn't tell with the hood up. Riku released Roxas and disappeared. Even Ophelia wasn't quite sure how Riku managed to disappear so quickly and completely. Before any questions could be asked, or answers given, Hayner called out to them.

The two hurried inside, where Hayner was ordering tickets. "Six students," he informed the teller imperiously. Pence meanwhile asked for the money from Roxas. Roxas reached into his pocket… and found nothing. He gasped and began to search his pockets frantically. "No! He took it!" He turned, moving back towards the plaza.

"Where are you going?" Olette asked confused.

"Remember when I fell? I had the money before that! I bet that guy took it!" Roxas explained rapidly.

"Guy?" Hayner questioned, confused.

Roxas continued regardless, "He couldn't have gotten far."

"What are you talking about? There was no guy!" Hayner yelled.

Roxas looked stunned. "But…" A whistle cut through his response. Jerry turned and faced towards the train.

"I think we missed the train guys," she stated glumly. "There goes my tan…"

The rest of the gang sighed, while Roxas mumbled, "There wasn't… anybody there?" The rest of the gang shook their heads, while Ophelia remained still, pensive.

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Ophelia and Jerry returned to the hotel with Olette. Jerry and Olette carried on a conversation on the way back, while Ophelia thought to herself, keeping her thoughts to herself.

Jerry went out shopping with Olette the next day, but Ophelia remained inside. She knew that today was the dive to the heart, and that she was not needed, heck, she'd get in the way of dive. So she stayed in the hotel room, working on her video that she was making. She was taking footage that she had shot on her first day here, along with other scenes from the game that were already on her computer, and creating videos. She usually worked with Laertes to do this, but as he was not here, she decided to make a solo film. Just for the heck of it. She needed something to take her mind off the situation.

Time flew by, and before she knew it, Jerry was charging into the room, dumping purchases onto the bed, chatting about how Roxas had hung out with Seifer today, and how she had hung out with Olette, as well as what they purchased, and did Ophelia know that Jerry had signed herself up for tomorrow's struggled match? Ophelia nodded in acquiescence, feeling very tired all of a sudden. Jerry continued to chat to Ophelia, long after Ophelia had fallen asleep.

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The day of the Struggle dawned bright. Jerry was up bright and early, practicing with rapier out in the front room. Ophelia had chosen to sleep in, as she usually did. When it came time for Ophelia to wake up, she didn't want to. Jerry had to threaten to smash her laptop and dump water on her hair before Ophelia dragged herself out of bed. Ophelia grumbled, but got dressed. The good thing with this hotel was that it had complimentary laundry services. Ophelia had gotten one of her outfits cleaned yesterday, and was now wearing her identical spare. She slowly got ready, performing all necessities, while Jerry hurried her on. As Jerry pushed her out of the door, Ophelia grabbed her bag.

The Sandlot was crowded. Ridiculously so. Ophelia pushed her way through, Jerry having abandoned her for the warm-up arena. Ophelia looked around before she chose a spot on a small set of portable bleachers, sitting down and making herself comfortable. Or as comfortable as one could make themselves on a rock hard bench that shook with the slightest movement.

Jerry fought in one of the first preliminary matches. She was paired with Seifer for her first match. She and Seifer went at it, Jerry putting her all into it, but all too soon Seifer was declared the winner.

Jerry slumped over to Ophelia. Ophelia patted her shoulder in comfort. Jerry just sighed dejectedly and turned to watch the rest of the preliminaries. Jerry bounced back from her slump quickly, cheering Roxas for all her worth, creating impromptu cheers. Ophelia stared skeptically at her friend. "Your inner cheerleader is showing," she informed her friend drolly.

"What?" Jerry asked, confused.

Ophelia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Nevermind," she sighed. Jerry shrugged and cheered louder.

Finally, it was time for the finals to begin. The cheering, from all around became louder. Ophelia sighed. _'I'm going to have a headache by the end of this,' _she thought mournfully to herself as she watched the announcer introduce the finalists.

Ophelia and Jerry were too far away to here the exact words that Hayner and Roxas exchanged, but both could tell that they made up. Jerry grinned happily, letting out a large shout, Ophelia just nodding in approval.

Roxas and Hayner's battle was fast and furious. They exchanged fierce blows, never letting one another rest, until Hayner tripped. Roxas moved in, nabbing the orbs Hayner dropped. Hayner tried to recover, but he never pulled into the lead. Roxas beat him by fifty orbs.

Ophelia glanced around nervously. The fake Vivi should be around here… she spotted him. The fake was emotionlessly watching the battle on the other side. At the announcement, it hopped onto the arena.

In less than twenty seconds, Seifer lost, the fake Vivi having successfully captured all of Seifer's orbs. Seifer snarled, storming off the stage, calling out an order to Roxas before leaving with Fuu, and Raajin.

Roxas climbed up onto the stage, the announcer announcing the final match. "And now the match you've been waiting for: Roxas vs Vivi!"

Roxas stared at Vivi. There was something really off about him… he couldn't tell what though…

"You can do it, yes you can, if you can't do it nobody can!" Jerry cheered. "R-O-X-A-S!! R-O-X-A-S, you're the best, you can beat all the rest!" Ophelia sat stoically next to her friend, giving no indication of her support.

"Come on Ophelia, cheer!! It's not going to kill you!" Jerry paused in her cheering to admonish her friend.

Ophelia glanced out of the corner of her eye. "I'd rather wait until Roxas attains victory."

"You're no fun!" Jerry pouted, before returning to her cheering.

"Besides, your cheer sucks," Ophelia added under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing Jerry." Ophelia turned her attention to Vivi. "So will this follow the script as well?" she asked herself.

The battle was brutal. Vivi lashed out viciously at Roxas, and Roxas did little more than retreat and block during the entire battle. Every so often, when Vivi paused, he would press the attack, knocking off orbs and gathering them up quickly.

Perhaps that was the only reason he won. In the end, victory was Roxas's because he was in possession of only one orb more than the fake Vivi.

The crowd went wild, cheering and clapping. Jerry ran up to and leapt up onto the battle stage, regardless of Ophelia's attempt to stop her. "You won!" she shouted. "That was brill-"

Time stopped.

"As expected." Ophelia mumbled, shifting the messenger bag that hung on her side. She stood up and began to approach the stage. Jerry raced forward, at a much farther pace than her friend, beating her friend to the stage and leaping up on top of it.

"Roxas, are you all right?" Jerry hurried over to Roxas.

Roxas faced her. "I'm fine, but Vivi…"

Roxas and Jerry turned to Vivi. Trails of black and white energy twisted around the child's form, revealing a Dusk.

"These things again?" Jerry asked, unsheathing her rapier. The keyblade appeared in Roxas hand.

"I guess so," Roxas replied uncertainly as he glanced around. Several more Dusks appeared. Jerry lunged for the nearest one, impaling it on her rapier. Roxas lunged for another, using Reversal to confuse it, hacking at it's white skin.

Jerry's was now covered in puncture and slice wounds from the multiple stabs and sweeping swipes of her rapier. The Dusk wobbled for a moment, before collasping and fading. Jerry turned to the third one. She charged at it, stabbing it through the chest just as Roxas, having defeated his Dusk, slammed the keyblade into its head. The Dusk faded.

Clapping started echoing throughout the Sandlot.

Roxas and Jerry looked around in confusion. Ophelia, about to clamber up onto the battle stage, saw the source immediately. She paused, stopping her attempt to climb up onto the stage, and stared at the man in the black cloak. "Enter Axel, stage right." she whispered to herself.

"Roxas! All right! Fight fight fight." He began to approach the stage, effortlessly hopping up on top.

Roxas and Jerry looked at Axel. "You really don't remember? It's me, you know, Axel?" The man rubbed the back of his head at Roxas's blank expression. "Talk about blank with a capital 'B'. Man, oh, man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one."

"Isn't an axle a car part?" Jerry asked. Ophelia sighed in consternation.

"Yes, but it appears that it is also this man's name," Ophelia replied as patiently as she could, keeping an eye on Roxas and Axel's chat.

"That's weird!"

"Okay, fine! That's it!" Roxas's yelling interrupted any response that Ophelia might have had. He pointed the Keyblade at Axel.

"That's more like it!" Axel cried, swinging his chakrams at Roxas. Roxas jumped out of the way as Jerry shrieked.

"Ophelia!"

"Can't help, there's a barrier!!" It was true. Ophelia slammed her hands futilely, but an invisible wall kept her outside of the fight. She was powerless to help.

"Damnit!" Jerry cursed as she turned to face Axel, Roxas at her side.

"Two against one? That's hardly fair." Axel responded. "But I've got something that'll even the playing field.

"Oh, we're so scared flame brain," Ophelia taunted from the side lines, feeling more than a little helpless. She shrugged her shoulders and pulled out her camcorder. Jerry glanced back at her friend, her mouth dropping open at the sight of the device tightly clutched in her friend's hand.

"Easy for you to say; you're behind the barrier," she squeaked.

"Eyes on the prize," Ophelia scolded as she watched Axel stand swing his flaming chakrams at Jerry's exposed back.

"SHIT!! What did I ever do to you, bastard??" Jerry barely dodged the blow, tripping over her own feet and nearly landing on her face.

Axel smirked. "Nothing really. But you are helping Roxas."

"We are? Since when?" Ophelia interjected, joking around.

"OPHELIA SHUT THE F& UP!!" Jerry screamed, barely dodging another attack. Roxas dashed forward, driving the keyblade into Axel's side. Axel retreated a few steps before renewing his attacks, swinging his chakrams at Roxas, while Roxas deflected the blows easily, retaliating with a few slashes of his own.

Ophelia had by now stolen some random time-frozen shmuck's popcorn and was calling out advice to both sides. "Can't do anything else…" she thought to herself.

"Go for the opening! No, the other one idiot! C'mon, how stupid are you! His back's exposed!! Go Jerry!!" she encouraged.

Jerry slashed at Axel with her rapier. "You sound like Prospero when he's watching the Bears!"

"And look where that's got my brother! The Bears suck!"

"Don't insult the Bears!" Jerry screamed, attacking with a new level of ferocity.

"They were beaten by the Lions!! The Detroit Lions!!" Ophelia replied, egging her friend on.

"What are you two arguing about?!?!?!" Axel interjected.

"Football, " the two responded simultaneously. Axel rolled his eyes and renewed his attacks with increased fervor.

Roxas increased his pace with Axel's, while Jerry was left to make attempts at jabbing at Axel's opening's.

Axel leapt back. "Not bad Roxas." He smirked.

The barrier disappeared and Ophelia scrambled up onto the stage. "You all right?" she asked Jerry.

Jerry stared at her, panting slightly. "You're useless you know."

Ophelia smirked. "And proud of it," she replied facetiously.

Ophelia heard a crackle sound out through the air and twisted towards the sound.

"So it was you." Axel exclaimed, staring at the man who had just appeared.

The man ignored him. Axel chucked his chakrams at the man, but they disappeared.

"Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!" the man protested.

"Hey it's Christopher Lee!" Jerry squealed to Ophelia.

"No, it's DiZ," Ophelia remarked, bored.

The others stared at her. "What?"

"How do you know who he is?" Roxas asked, suspicious.

"Would you believe me if I said I was omniscient?" Ophelia asked.

"No." Roxas informed her drily.

"Then I'm afraid that you won't get a suitable answer." Ophelia bit the inside of her lip. She couldn't believe that she'd just blurted out DiZ's name! What had she just done?

"Hmm, you two must be the anomalies," DiZ looked them over. "I expected…"

"A storm of Locusts?" Jerry asked, trying to be helpful. "Frogs? Rivers turning into blood? Lice? Boils? Flies? Disease of livestock? Hail with fire?? Death of all firstborn children?"

"Do I have to duck tape your mouth closed again?" Ophelia interjected, her patience starting to disappear.

"That didn't work that time and you know it won't work now."

"It almost did. I had three moments of pure silence before you figured out that I could hear you if you screamed." Ophelia shook her head mournfully.

"A tragedy." Jerry replied sarcastically.

"Oh you're so funny."

"I know, I'm friggin' hilarious!" Jerry bragged.

"Leave comedy to Laertes. Please." Ophelia kneaded her forehead. She was starting to get a headache.

"Your brother's worse than I am." Jerry protested, outraged.

"No, you're worse." Ophelia protested turning back to the others. "Now that that's over, feel free to continue."

The others stared at the two, speechless for a moment. "What?" Jerry asked. "We're allowed to be weird."

"I protest, I am abnormal, not weird," Ophelia mumbled.

DiZ seemed to recover his momentum at that point, either that or he was just tired of the two girls. "Roxas, ignore them. They all speak nonsense."

Axel leapt to attention now, not about to let this chance go entirely. "Roxas, don't let him deceive you!"

As they continued to call out Roxas's name, Roxas grabbed his head, trying to shut them out.

"Stop it!" Jerry cried ineffectually.

Then Roxas started screaming. "Hayner! Pence! Olette!"

Time started. "What? What just happened?" the announcer asked.

Vivi was confused. "How, did I get here?" he asked curiously, before hopping off of the arena and walking off to find Seifer and the rest of his gang.

Roxas was distraught. Jerry and Ophelia, along with the rest of the Usual Gang hurried over to talk to him.

The rest of the tournament went by fast. Ophelia wasn't paying attention. She was too busy thinking about what she had said. _'Why did I betray the fact that I know who Diz was?_ She thought back to the look Roxas gave her, right after time started again. _He's going to ask questions… questions that I don't want to answer. Gah, I'm so stupid. _She was all caught up in her thoughts, that she didn't see Roxas defeat Setzer.

To get out of going to the train station tower, Ophelia pleaded ill. She did feel slightly queasy, but she knew that it was more because of her actions than anything else. Jerry came with her to make sure she was all right. Jerry was a good friend in that respect. Ophelia went to sleep, her actions and her thought weighing on her heavily.

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Ophelia used the same excuse to get out of going to see the usual gang the next morning. Jerry had looked at her with concern, feeling her forehead. "You don't have a fever, at least," Jerry informed her. "I've asked Olette's mom to look in on you, all right?"

Ophelia nodded, swathed in blankets. Her anxiety was truly starting to truly make her sick. It happened whenever she over worried. She would make herself ill. She knew it was good for her, but it still happened anyways. Jerry patted her gently on the top of the head and departed. Ophelia moaned and curled up into a ball, worrying.

Jerry spent the day helping the Usual Gang collect rumors and myths, although most of them turned out to be fake in the end.

She sighed, sitting on the ledge of the Twilight Town Train Station with the rest of the game. "So what happens tomorrow?" she asked the gang, looking at the others, eating a sea salt ice cream.

"Tomorrow we search the town," Hayner informed her.

"Next day's the fair," Pence chimed in.

"The last day of summer," Olette added. Sighes went around.

"Don't say that!" Hayner clutched stomach. "You'll give me an ulcer!"

"Speaking of stomach related problems, I have to go back," Jerry said, standing up. "Have to go see how Ophelia's doing!" She cast a glance over the group, staring worriedly at Roxas. He had seemed mediative all day, except for his outburst that morning… but now looking at him, Jerry thought he looked… upset? As she passed him, she whispered into his ear. "Are you all right?"

Roxas nodded absently. Jerry moved, looking back. Why did she feel that she shouldn't leave the Train Tower? She shook the idea off as Olette caught up with her, having decided to return home as well.

When Jerry got back to the hotel room, Ophelia was on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "Feeling better?" she inquired, striding into the room.

"Much," Ophelia replied, staring at the ceiling.

"That's great!" Jerry cheered. "Tomorrow you can help us look for clues!"

"The sixth day is tomorrow," Ophelia murmured, more to herself than to Jerry.

"Yeah your right!! It's hard to believe we've been here for that long, isn't it?" Jerry began to get into a nightgown she had found when they arrived.

Ophelia made a noise that sounded like an affirmative. "Get some sleep, you'll need it tomorrow for the search!" Jerry said, getting into bed, and flicking off the lights.

Ophelia was still staring at the ceiling, in the now dark room. "You have no idea," she said mournfully, twisting onto her side.

**Author's Note: I feel really bad. This has been sitting for about five days, just waiting to be posted. I was just feeling really lazy… sorry. Also, I've just been feeling down lately…**

**Also, my school's spring musical has started, so I'm going to be really busy for the next two months, so I'm sorry if I'm slow in updating. We're putting on **_**Les Miserablès!!! **_**It's so exciting!!**

**Otherwise, nothing really new. So… on to my valued reviewers!! I thank you for sticking with me, through long periods of no posting… and other problems. Many thanks to **_**Forgotten in Darkness**_** and **_**WinterLoveSong**_

**Axel plushies for all!!**

**Please review!! Thank you!!!**


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